Posted on 10/26/2004 9:58:30 PM PDT by TERMINATTOR
Incident might be tied to eight snipings.
ST. LOUIS (AP) - Authorities are investigating whether the shooting of an Indiana truck on Interstate 44 might be linked to eight other possible snipings at motorists in recent months along the stretch of freeway.
The truck driver - wounded Thursday on her 34th birthday - was the first person who was injured in nine cases of vehicle windows inexplicably shattering in daylight since Feb. 26 along a 10-mile stretch of I-44 in and near Bourbon, about 70 miles southwest of St. Louis, an investigator said.
"There’s no question we had a highway shooting Thursday," Bourbon Police Chief Bill Williams said Saturday. "Based on the pattern of other incidents, it’s possible we may be dealing with a sniper-type situation. We’re not saying it is, but we’d be foolish not to acknowledge that it’s a concern.
"Definitely, we have a pattern."
Williams said he hadn’t noticed possible connections among the shootings until Amy Holder was shot shortly after 1 p.m. Thursday while driving westbound on I-44 as her husband rested in the semi rig’s sleeper compartment.
Holder, who was shot near her left temple through her side window, was screaming and bleeding but managed to pull the tractor-trailer to the highway’s shoulder.
Her husband drove to a nearby gas station and summoned police, Williams said.
Holder, of Paris Crossing, Ind., was treated at a nearby hospital, where a worker told investigators his pickup truck’s side window had mysteriously "exploded" while he was driving along the same I-44 stretch during the summer, Williams said.
"I never would have thought that I was shot," Holder told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Friday after being released from the hospital, continuing her Chicago-to-Dallas run. "I’m not going to let this stop me. If I stop driving, whoever did this wins."
"I’m very lucky that I didn’t lose my wife because of this," her husband, Travis Holder, told the newspaper.
A bullet fragment found in the truck - the first evidence of a shooting in any of the suspected cases - has been forwarded to the Missouri State Highway Patrol for testing meant to pinpoint the caliber of weapon used, Williams said.
Amy Holder said she saw a late-model Ford Crown Victoria passing her about the time she was shot, though Williams called that car only "a vehicle of interest," perhaps driven by a possible witness.
"At this point, we’re not eliminating that" the shot "came from a moving vehicle, but we’re more inclined to believe it came from a fixed location," Williams said.
On Saturday, Williams said, a businessman from nearby Cuba, Mo., reported someone or something recently shattered a side window of his pickup truck on I-44, bringing to nine the number of suspected cases along the freeway stretch over the past eight months.
Gutsy lady.
If Kerry is President, he will have a better plan. Truck drivers will be shot RIGHT, dammit!
Bush will require all snipers to have a background check.
"I believe in background checks at gun shows or anywhere" - GWB
Excuse me for asking a possibly stupid question? I seem to recall hearing or reading that somewhere they were having problems like this and that they were afraid that they might have another sniper like from DC. Just wondering if anyone has heard that as well and if so is this in the same area as those?
never mind, I should have read it better.
That's near me, I'm in Fenton, MO!
I dunno...........Could be a collection of unconnected events, accidents. There is no evidence yet.
Well it's not the evidence that matters it is the seriousness of the charges that require us to launch an investigation.
There could be a idiot trying to get on TV, but he does not appear to be trying to hit anyone.
Most of the reports are busted widows, and holes in trailers etc.
The Ford Crown Victoria passed the truck, just before the shot. Could be the old sniper hole in the trunk trick?
That is a pretty barren stretch of highway out there so I would be hesitant to say it was unconnected. Our family property is outside of Bourbon in Anthonies Mill and I'm pretty familiar with the area.
It's really a pretty curious situation. I just hope nobody gets hurt badly before they figure it out.
Yes, that is my take, until I hear something solid. I hope I am right, but you never know, and you can't close the interstate with no suspect or even a location.
Maybe someone a-hole has with the brains to think of it, but lacking the moral restraint to stop him from actually doing it, has finally slithered out of the ooze.
I'll bet I can describe this guy to a 'T'.
(steely)
TRUE
There've also been a series of similar highway shootings in the Memphis, TN area....
Someone making coordinated testruns, perhaps?
Hello,
Me, too!
Glad to be here, MOgirl
Maybe someone a-hole has with the brains to think of it, but lacking the moral restraint to stop him from actually doing it, has finally slithered out of the ooze.I'll bet I can describe this guy to a 'T'.
I really hope you're wrong. But it seems that there may be a pattern of such recent shootings.
Question is, are the methods and motivation also of similar origins?
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